How Will Private Companies Change the Future of Space Resources
How Private Companies Transform Space Travel.
Will space tourism finally be a milestone in the field of astronomy to explore the beckoning gigantic universe? When will it be achieved? Who will do it? Why will they do it?
To put it more conspicuously, let’s first explore the universe.
Brief History
The first step towards space travel came in the late 1950s. The pioneer of space travel was a Russian scientist, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. The first artificial satellite launched was the prestigious Sputnik I on October 4, 1957. Literally after a month, Russians launched a dog called Laika into space in a Satellite and was claimed the first living creature in space.
In response to the Russians, President Kennedy promised to send an American satellite to the Moon. Explorer 1 was the first American satellite sent into space dating back to January 31, 1958.
The Army Ballistic Missile Agency was directed to launch the satellite using its Jupiter C rocket developed under the direction of Dr. Wernher von Braun. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory received the assignment to design, build and operate the artificial satellite that would serve as the rocket’s payload. JPL completed this job in less than three months.
In the 2000s, China initiated a successful manned program, while the European Union, Japan, and India have also planned future crewed space missions. China, Russia, Japan, and India have advocated crewed missions to the Moon during the 21st century, while the European Union has advocated for a mission to Mars and the Moon during the 20th and 21st century.
Rise Of Private Interest
From 1990 onwards, private interests have begun promoting space travel and exploration of the Moon. One of the most interesting private corporations is SpaceX with the dual objective of colonizing Mars and reducing the transportation cost to travel from Earth to space. Another aspect of this interest induces space tourism namely Virgin Galactic becoming the architect in this space tourism.
SPACEX
SpaceX was founded in 2002 under the initiative of Elon Musk. Musk wanted human to lands on Mars and make it habitable like Earth. The reason is plainly to make two paths for humans. Musk once said, “One path is we stay on Earth or we face extinction or similar activity. The alternate is to become spacefaring and multi-planetary species. So, two things are quite clear now. One, we cannot live on Earth forever although just for now it's exclusively safe. Secondly, we need to sustain human life on another planet as global warming is accelerating.” SpaceX also imparted the plans for the first all-civilian mission to space, a significant milestone for the private space industry and nascent space tourism industry.
VIRGIN GALACTIC
Virgin Galactic is a spaceflight industry inside Virgin Group itself. It aims to achieve sub-orbital flights in the coming years with Richard Branson as the legatee for space tourism. The starting date of flight has been pushed back several times. Branson predicted that Virgin Galactic will fly customers into space by 2007. But the claim wasn’t achieved by numerous development issues from the fatal explosion during the ground test in 2007 and the tragic test flight crash in 2004.
On Dec. 13, 2018, the company achieved a major accomplishment when their VSS Tets Unity vehicle at least, according to one definition of positive achievement . The vehicle reached an altitude of 51.4 miles (82.7 kilometres), which is slightly higher than what the U.S. Air Force considers the border between Earth’s atmosphere and space when giving astronaut wings to its pilots. Virgin plans to operate its future private space flights out of the Spaceport America complex in New Mexico, but it has also signed an agreement to develop a spaceport in Abu Dhabi.
XCOR AEROSPACE
XCOR Aerospace, based in Mojave, California, which is developing a suborbital tourism vehicle called the Lynx, questions the accuracy of the Black carbon emission estimates used in the study. The black carbon data they used for kerosene rockets appear outdated. Modern kerosene-burning engines like those used in the Lynx are cleaner, says the CEO of XCOR. The black carbon generation is so low that it is difficult to measure it. So much of the data out there seems to come from older rockets with more black carbon generation.
How Will It Impact The World
Remember the idea that you can take off from London, fly into space and touch down in San Francisco an hour or so later? When discussing technologies that are promised but never quite deliver, a close runner-up behind flying cars has to be so-called sub-orbital point-to-point travel.
Could the space tourism companies at Mojave finally help make this dream a reality? But few people are going to pay $250,000, or even $95,000, for a flight to San Francisco, however fast. Space tourism companies counter with the argument that as the technology evolves, costs will inevitably come down. The history of aviation suggests this is indeed the case.
‘Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.’
This scientific term stated by Sir Isaac Newton occurs everywhere and also contributes to the Space industry. Space tourism could have major consequences for Earth’s climate. New computer simulations suggest black carbon emitted by the rockets could raise temperatures at the poles, significantly reducing seasonal ice cover there, but uncertainty remains about the assumptions used in the study. In the next few years, space tourism companies hope to start routinely flying passengers on suborbital space flights.
The 1000 annual launches which is the standardized launch per year would belch out about 600 tonnes of soot, or black carbon — less than today’s output from aeroplanes and other sources. But plane soot occurs at low enough altitudes for the rain to wash it out of the atmosphere in just days or weeks. Rockets expel the soot at altitudes three times as high — in the stratosphere more than 40 kilometres above sea level. There, well above the weather, it can remain for up to 10 years.
This has been a major concern or could possibly be the drawback of Space tourism but as said ‘Nothing is impossible unless you think it is’ quoted back by Paramahansa Yogananda.
TL;DR
The First Artificial Satellite launched to Space was Sputnik I In the leadership of Russian Scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.
Private Corporation’s Particularly SpaceX , Virgin Galactic , XCOR Aerospace developed enthusiasm for Space Tourism.
The Major concern for space tourism is the environmental issue caused by the Rocket Engine’s Black Carbon Emission.
The central Idea of this article is to show how private companies developed their research for space tourism and aftermath effects of Rocket engines supported by a research about the timeline of black carbon generation.
Additional Resource
Space Tourism’s Black Carbon Problem — Article
A Brief History of Space Exploration — Article
Private Co. and Space Tourism — Article
How Virgin , SpaceX and Blue Origin and other compete in growing space tourism industry — Article
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